


Eye Of The Storm

by orphan_account



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Dom!Shane, Fluff, How To Calm Ryan Bergara, M/M, light d/s tones, sub!Ryan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-14
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2019-03-04 21:43:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13373634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Ryan, Shane has discovered, is needy sometimes.





	Eye Of The Storm

Ryan, Shane has discovered, is needy sometimes.

He’s needy sometimes, almost desperately so, and he doesn’t let Shane know and it drives Shane absolutely fucking _insane_.

A lot of the time it’s not even that he’s needy in a sex way. He’s just needy for affection in general, needy for hugs and cuddles and soft, gentle touches and the _comfort_ that comes from letting Shane take control and tell him what to do, even for just a few brief seconds. He gets caught up in his own head and his own fears so easily that sometimes it seems he stops being able to think about anything apart from what happens to be stressing him at that current time.

It’s awful to watch, and Shane hates it, and if he has to found the Stop Ryan Bergara Freaking Out About Shit And Make Him Actually Chill For Once club all on his lonesome, then he absolutely will.

And step one of the club’s agenda is the following: learn the signs of a stressed and frustrated Ryan, and stop them before they get too serious.

Thankfully, Shane has this step pretty well nailed down.

He’s Ryan’s Dom after all, and his boyfriend, and his co-worker and co-host and his _friend_ , and he knows the signs as well as he knows his own skin. Better, even. Because where he needs a mirror to check his own appearance, Ryan is always right there, close and open and so fucking _readable_.

Shane notices the signs now.

They’re in the office together, both working away at independent projects, and Ryan’s been tapping on his leg under his desk for the last half an hour. It’s not a nervous tap, isn’t a constant jitter of fingers, but is something more consistent and subconscious. It’s the same tapping rhythm he does when they’re watching movies sometimes after a scene, when he wants to hold Shane’s hand or curl into his side but hasn’t been told he can yet, hasn’t been given permission, and is still too far into subspace to realise that he _can_ just ask now, that it’s ok. Shane’s pretty certain by now that Ryan doesn’t even realise he’s doing it – it just _happens_ , and Shane notices, and then he reaches for Ryan’s hand or he wraps an arm around his shoulders and pulls him in impossibly closer and tugs him against his chest under the blanket they’ve got thrown across them and murmurs small nonsense things in his ear, jokes about the film they’re watching and feeds Ryan small pieces of popcorn.

He does all those things, and then the tapping stops, and Ryan is calm and content again.

Over time, Shane had started noticing the tapping happening at other times. It doesn’t always happen after a scene, thought that’s definitely when it’s more common, but it can happen sometimes when Ryan is feeling annoyed that something isn’t working or going right and he wants some form of comfort but hasn’t actually noticed that that’s what he wants.

It drives Shane mad sometimes, that his boy is so oblivious to his own needs, but he always gets over it. That’s why he’s always looking out for him, after all.

That’s why he’s always alert to the tapping.

The tapping hasn’t stopped yet, and Shane can see Ryan growing more frustrated and wound up by the minute. He glaring at his screen, constantly rerolling the footage and opening a web page to check something and then going back to the footage, and occasionally his other hand raises when he needs to get some typing done but for the most part it stays under the desk, tapping away at his leg.

 _Tap, tap, tap_ , it goes, followed by a pause in which Ryan absently just holds his own leg, wrapping his fingers around his thigh and squeezing slightly, seeming to calm for a few moments, but then he shifts his hand and taps again. _Tap, tap tap_. _Pause. Squeeze. Pause. Continue. Tap, tap, tap._

Shane doesn’t think he can stand to see it go on any longer, and decides that enough is enough.

He pulls his headphones off, setting them down on his desk before standing with a stretch, cracking the joints in his shoulders and elbows as he feels a few of the kinks work their way out of his spine. Ryan glances up at him, more alert to the movement in his peripheral vision than to what’s actually happening, and is about to go right back to work when Shane reaches out, and wraps a hand around his shoulder.

“I’m gonna go take a leak,” he says softly once Ryan has moved his headphones, and squeezes his shoulder. It’s a simple gesture, and one that they both know: _come with me_.

Shane can only assume what Ryan imagines he intents to do but he doesn’t give him long to dwell on it, waiting for barely a second before he turns and walks off towards the mens bathroom. There’s a few seconds of worry in which he hears nothing, but then there’s a sigh and the scrape of a wheelie chair being rolled back with too much force, and he knows that Ryan is only a few metres behind him.

The bathroom is thankfully empty when Shane gets to it, waiting a handful of seconds for Ryan to join him before shepherding him towards a cubicle, locking the door behind them and shutting them both in. It’s not an ideal location, but it’ll do for what he has in mind.

Ryan, it is clear to see, thinks otherwise.

“Shane,” he says, arms folded across his chest and eyes glaring daggers at Shane, who leans nonchalantly against the side of the stall. “What are you _doing_? We’re at _work_.”

“I’m helping you destress.”

“I don’t need to destress! And even if I did I’m not- I’m gonna do _whatever_ in the fucking bathrooms at work!”

“Who said anything about ‘whatever’?”

“What the fuck else am I meant to think when you say you’re going to help me destress?”

“I don’t know.” Shane smiles a little, challenging. “You could maybe trust that your Dom isn’t going to make you uncomfortable in a public place.”

He can see the moment it sinks in – the use of the word ‘Dom’ was completely intentional, designed to make Ryan pause and rethink everything in the way Shane can see him doing now. He smiles a little more, tilting his head back to rest it against the cubicle wall. “I just want to help you chill out, man, that’s all. I’m not going to suck you off or anything.” _Not at work, at least_. “I’m just… well, just trust me, ok?”

“Shane,” Ryan starts, frowning and annoyed, but the vitriol from before is gone now. If anything he’s beginning to sound a little curious, but there’s still too much fight in him for what Shane wants to do.

“ _Ryan_ ,” Shane replies. It’s a warning, in a way, that single word – Shane slips slightly into what he considers his Dom voice, letting a current of control and command run under his words, and he can tell Ryan notices by the way his shoulders instantly slump slightly. “Do you trust me?”

There’s a pause, and then Ryan speaks again.

“Yeah…” he says, “I’m sorry.”

Shane smiles slightly. “It’s alright, baby.” He lifts a hand, reaching out to gently take Ryan’s wrist, and tugs him in closer. There’s not much ‘closer’ really left, seeing how they’re standing in a far from luxurious restroom stall, but he does it anyway. Ryan needs the contact, needs that light level of order and control that Shane can, and will, give him. “Come here, come on.” It only takes another single light tug before Ryan steps forwards easily, every previous sign of annoyance and aggravation gone, and Shane instantly wraps both arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug. “See?” he says, “Destressing sometimes means cuddles.”

He feels Ryan shiver, just once, and tightens his hold a little more.

“Shane…?” he hears Ryan say, and it’s quiet and half-muffled from how Ryan’s face is now pressed against his sweater, but he can still tell it’s a question, a request for something.

“What is it, baby?”

“Could you… can…”

“Could I what?”

There’s a puff of warm breath against his chest, a weak attempt at a laugh. “Nevermind, it’s stupid, we’re at the _office_ , don’t- don’t worry about it dude.”

“ _Ryan_. Tell me.”

There’s a long pause.

“Could you, just… tell me what to do?”

Shane can’t help himself; he fucking _beams_ , wide and delighted and fucking _proud_ , in a way. As much as being Ryan’s Dom means taking control, it’s still special to him when Ryan outright _asks_ for that, asks for Shane to step in and comfort him in this weirdly effective way.

(Shane has to stifle a laugh of his own at that – the moment the thought crosses his mind all he can think of is the kind of article he has to write sometimes. _Nine weirdly effective tricks to calm a stressed sub. Number three will shock you!_ )

He can dwell on that later. For now, he has a task to do.

“Of course I can, baby.” Shane practically _coos_ the words when he says them, rubbing one hand up and down Ryan’s back in a slow, soothing gesture. “You’re gonna behave for me, yeah?”

He thinks he feels a nod against his chest.

“Ryan. Words.”

“…Yeah.”

“Yeah what?”

“’M gonna behave for you.”

Shane smiles. “Good boy,” he says, and feels a little more of the tension drain out of Ryan’s body. God, he loves him so much it’s actually fucking ridiculous. He thinks he might love Ryan more than _popcorn_. He definitely loves him enough to gently Dom him in a toilet stall at work, because that happens to be what Ryan needs right now.

Shane clears his throat quietly, and lets himself slip into the so very familiar mindset.

“Move in closer,” he commands, and _delights_ at how Ryan instants moves to obey. “Raise your arms, wrap them around my waist. Turn your head, rest it on my shoulder… you comfy there buddy?” He pauses, waiting long enough to get confirmation, and then continues. “Listen to my heart, alright, you hear it?” Another pause, another soft murmur of agreement from Ryan. “Good boy. I just want you to focus on that, ok? Stop thinking about whatever scary ghosties you’re researching or editing. Just focus on me.” He drops his voice slightly, softening it to something more like a murmur. “Just focus on me, baby. I’m here. I’m right here. You’re alright, I’ve got you.” He squeezes him briefly to prove to point, and his arms have barely relaxed when he hears Ryan speak.

“More,” he murmurs, soft and sweet like syrup, and his voice is the one Shane knows to be the one that means he’s just beginning to slip into subspace. It’s the state Shane _wants_ him to be in by the end of this – the one where he’s loose and relaxed and comfortable, still there and present and not fully drifting in subspace, but still relaxed enough that he can focus on work and his editing without stressing himself out.

 _More_ , he had said, and Shane is only too happy to comply.

He squeezes Ryan again, and this time he holds it. He can practically feel Ryan’s spine pressing against his arm with how tight he’s holding him but it makes Ryan relax against him and sigh out against his chest in one long, drawn-out exhale, and that alone makes it entirely worth it. “Good boy,” he murmurs again, just to feel Ryan shiver. “ _My_ good boy. You still listening to my heart, baby?”

“Mhmm…”

“That’s good.” He shifts one arm a little and slips a hand under Ryan’s shirt, pressing it warm and comforting against the bare skin of his back, and presses another kiss to Ryan’s forehead. Ryan smiles faintly against Shane’s chest, and Shane feels his heart just about fucking _melt_. “My good boy,” he says again, more to himself than to Ryan this time. “You’re so fucking gorgeous, baby. So smart and beautiful and talented. You’re gonna kick this editing’s fucking _butt_ , you hear me?” He gets a soft huff of laughter in response, and feels his smile widen into a grin. “You’re gonna kick it’s butt, and it’s not gonna know what hit it, because it just got kicked by Ryan Bergara’s Awesome Editing Skills. I’ll trademark that for you, if you want.”

Another huff of laughter. This one is a little clearer.

“Keep listening to my heart, just for a bit longer. You feeling much better?”

“Mm, yeah…”

“Scale of 1 to 10, 1 being Sallie house and 10 being popcorn and movies at home?”

“…5?”

“That’s rough, buddy. Let’s see if we can get you up to, say, a seven.”

“…Did you just _Last Airbender_ me?”

Shane grins. “I might have. You gonna do anything about it?” He feels Ryan grumble against his chest but can’t make out any actual words. “So that’s a no. Great! Means we can just go straight back to cuddling.” There’s no grumbled complaint in response to that, so Shane ducks his head to press a kiss to Ryan’s cheek. When he raises his head again he can see a small smile crossing Ryan’s lips.

They stand like that for a good couple more minutes, Shane’s hand rubbing slow and soothing against Ryan’s back as he feels Ryan relaxes by millimetres. Eventually they’re breathing together, both of them inhaling and exhaling nice and slow, and Shane lets them just stand and breath for another minute or so before finally dropping his hand from Ryan’s back and leaning back slightly.

“You alright now?” he asks.

Ryan looks up at him and smiles. He looks the most relaxed he has all day. “Yeah,” he says, “I am.”

Shane waits, and raises an eyebrow. He doesn’t have to wait long for what he wants to hear.

“Thank you,” Ryan says a moment later, and Shane rewards him with a fleeting kiss.

“Any time,” he murmurs.

“… We need to get back to work.”

“We do,” Shane agrees, “You ready to take on your nightmare editing?”

“Yeah,” Ryan says, and grins a little, “Yeah, I think I am. I’ll kick it’s butt.”

“You’ll kick it’s butt,” Shane agrees, “Just like I said you would.” He kisses Ryan once more and then steps back entirely, making space for them to turn around and leave in, and claps his hands once, rubbing them together. “Alright, let’s go back out there and face the world. Time to rock and roll!”

A soft wheeze of laughter escapes Ryan, and Shane feels his heart melt just a little bit more. He steps around him, one hand reaching out to rest absently on his waist, and opens the cubicle door before awkwardly shuffling back to allow Ryan to exit first. “After you.”

“Why, thank you, kind sir.”

“My pleasure,” Shane replies, doffing an imaginary top hat and getting a wheeze from Ryan in response before following him out. He lets Ryan lead the way back to their desks, content to just amble along behind him, and rests a hand on his shoulder in an echo of what happened only ten minutes or so ago before he sits down at his own desk.

They both put their headphones back on, wake up their computers, and go back to work.

It’s quiet again. There’s no more tapping. When Shane glances over a few moments later he can see a faint smile on Ryan’s face.

He reaches out under the desk, and rests a hand on Ryan’s knee.

All is calm.

 


End file.
